


Lost Souls

by InterNutter



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Gen, Unfinished, fragment, seemed like a good idea at the time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-19
Updated: 2013-06-19
Packaged: 2017-12-15 12:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/849450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterNutter/pseuds/InterNutter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt Wagner is on his journey home to a small town somewhere in the vicinity of Winzeldorf. He thinks himself useless, now that Blink is on the scene. He is about to discover that, for two lost and lonely souls, he is very useful indeed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Souls

**Author's Note:**

> There is a comic, somewhere, of Kurt going back to Winzeldorf to discover that he's something of a celebrity. I wanted this to blend with that, but I never got a hold of it [helpful pointing fingers to its location on Amazon or similar appreciated :) ] so this got stuck in limbo.
> 
> When I get back to this, I think I'll make it into its own piece. Mainly because Winzeldorf was never Kurt Wagner's home town.

Disclaimer: Theirs is theirs. Mine is mine. Sara is mine. Please aske before playing with her.

Verse: Comic.  
Time: Just after Kurt left the X-men owing to Blink envy.

Lost Souls  
InterNutter

Most people felt a subtle fear when walking through fog. It was a reasonable fear, that of the unknown; of whatever could be lurking, just out of view. Kurt Wagner, late of the X-men had no such fear. He felt... safe. Concealed and secure.  
But then, he *looked* like one of the things in the Unseen and Unknown that ordinary folk would fear.  
Thus, it was quite a surprise to him to be nearly scared out of his skin by a voice so startlingly close.  
"Download. Map."  
When his heartrate slowed and he could think again, he identified it as one of those talking devices so popular with everyone these days.  
"Download. Map." It said again. "Download. Map."  
He triangulated and aimed himself in the general direction of the voice.  
"Darnit, I would if I could," said another. "Volume *down*. Oh dear, anyone could hear this..."  
And, since the complainer was complaining in English, he spoke in the same language. "Hello... Need a little help?"  
There were two whimpers in the shroud beyond. Both young and possibly female.  
"Depends. How do you feel about the... different?" said the elder voice over the quieter whimpers.  
"I have no qualms," he said, and turned on his imager, just in case. There. The shape of a tent. The aroma of something cooking. The sound of a small fire. Some bags, then two figures emerged from the patches of water vapour.  
The smaller one hid behind the larger one. They made an odd couple. The larger of the two currently wore a tie-dyed burkha with the legend, _I am performance art._ The smaller was thin, pale and young. Not much older than three, if he was to guess.  
The burkha-wearer had one hand on a baseball bat and the other shielding the child.  
"I come in peace," he soothed. "Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Kurt Wagner, humble tumbler, occasional hero, and almost one hundred percent harmless." He edited out the 'fuzzy elf' part. No sense in alarming anyone. There were still people who thought him evil on appearances alone.  
The little one whimpered again. The larger one reeled her into a one-armed hug.  
"Forgive me, but experience has taught the two of us that there's no such thing as 'harmless'."  
She was guarding the little girl, and the little girl was afraid. Therefore, as long as the child was afraid, her guardian would have her guard up. Kurt bent and picked up a stone, then juggled with it, his torch, and his canteen. Growing up in a circus meant juggling was as natural as breathing.  
"Well, I'll just stand here and entertain myself, ne? My conscience won't let me leave you in distress, and my sense of honour won't let me just barge in when you're obviously afraid." He started bouncing things off his feet, elbows and knees. "Until we can find a compromise, I suppose we are at an impasse."  
The white-knuckle grip of the little one slackened. Her face relaxed into an innocent wonder. Then, slowly, in a small miracle almost worthy of sainthood, she began to creep around her guardian for a better look.  
Kurt favoured her with a warm smile.  
She didn't smile back. "No screen."  
_What?_  
"That's right," said the elder. "No screens. This is what we call a live performance." Sigh. "Very well, Herr Wagner. Jane trusts you enough for the two of us. My name's Sara."  
Kurt put his things away and placed the stone back where it came from. "I'm glad to make your acquaintance, Sara," he bowed. "Jane." This was the oddest audience he'd ever encountered. "What's giving you trouble?"  
"It's this dratted GPS," Sara slapped the device. "I have maps. I update them every time I can get a signal. We were doing so well, and then... It just won't accept the updates. It keeps claiming I need more maps."  
"Download. Map," said the device, as if for confirmation.  
"And this is a no service zone," said Sara. "If I didn't have a thing about heights, I'd be up a tree or something. Twenty yards back the way we came, it was fine. Here, it needs a map."  
Kurt felt the air, an old habit from travelling with Margali. Sometimes, he could smell when it was thick with magic.  
This place reeked of the stuff. Old, certainly, but very thick. This was Warped Ground.  
But since he was in the company of a tourist who obviously preferred science... he couldn't say as much. "It's a magnetic anomaly of the area. Compasses and electronics go wrong. Fortunately, I know the country..." _rather intimately... This was where I grew up._ "Where are you headed?"  
"...towards Genosha," said Sara, after something of a pause.  
Vague. "That's a long way away for a reference point," he offered.  
Sara sighed. "So much for saving money and so forth. Not like many travel arrangements will take--" she coughed. "Sorry to bother you. Just take us as far as you can and we'll manage from there."


End file.
